Fresh Air

In New York City, in the 20th century, tens of thousands of women and transmasculine people were incarcerated at the so-called "House of D." Author Hugh Ryan says that in many cases, the prisoners were charged with crimes related to gender non-conforming behavior. "Drunkenness, waywardism, disobedience to their parents, being out at night by themselves, wearing pants, accepting a date from a man, accepting a ride from a man," Ryan says...

Rosie Perez was a dancer on Soul Train, the choreographer for "the Fly Girls," the dancers on the sketch comedy show In Living Color, and she did the now-famous dance in the opening credit sequence of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. She's now co-starring in the HBO max series The Flight Attendant. We'll talk about her career and how she managed to become so successful after having been raised as a ward of the state in St. Joseph's Catholic Home for Children in New York, and later in foster care...

A decade ago, Costanzo had surgery that threatened to destroy his singing voice. Now he stars as a gender-fluid Egyptian pharaoh in the Met Opera's production of Philip Glass' Akhnaten. He's a countertenor, meaning he sings in a high range that's associated with women's voices. He knows all about the history of countertenors and their predecessors, castrati.

Justin Chang reviews the new film Memoria, starring Tilda Swinton, which he calls a "sonic detective story."

The New York Times did an exhaustive survey of the Fox News hosts' broadcasts. Reporter Nicholas Confessore says Carlson's show is based on ideas that were once "caged in a dark corner of American life."

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Trust by Hernan Diaz.

Holder was America's first Black attorney general when he served in the Obama administration. He has a new book called Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote.

Merchant co-created the British Office and Extras with Ricky Gervais. His new show, The Outlaws, is about people court-ordered to do community service for low-level crimes. He spoke with producer Sam Briger about what inspired the new series, his best writing advice, and how being very tall (6'7") has informed his personality.

Also, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new album from The Clarinet Trio.

Raised in a convent for abandoned kids, The Flight Attendant co-star used to dream of stability and a loving home. Now that she has it, Perez says, "It's priceless." We talk with Perez about overcoming the trauma of her childhood, how a fight with Spike Lee helped land her breakthrough role in Do the Right Thing, and her brief — but impactful — time dancing on Soul Train.

Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård describes himself as "quite a mellow guy." Playing a Viking warrior in the film The Northman gave Skarsgård a chance to tap into his animalistic nature. We talk about being a child actor in Sweden, growing up in a bohemian family, and his roles in Big Little Lies and Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" music video.

Ken Tucker reviews Bonnie Raitt's new album, Just Like That.....

Adlon is the co-creator, director and star of the FX comedy series Better Things, which ended its fifth and final season last month. The Peabody award-winning series has been heralded as a "masterpiece of unreal realism." Her character, like Adlon herself, is the single mother of three girls, who is also helping her aging mother, and trying to keep her acting career alive...

We talk with journalist Oliver Bullough about how Russian oligarchs have stashed their wealth and laundered their money in Britain, and how that's helped Putin – and the Russian state – launch its war in Ukraine. There's so much oligarch money in London, it's been nicknamed "Londongrad." Bullough says the UK has developed a system of bankers, lawyers, accountants and PR managers who work to help Russian kleptocrats hide their wealth.